Hoa Nguyen
What is the forest?
What am I doing while I'm drawing?
Is it possible to draw without eyes?
These are the questions I have when I draw the forest.
The forest, the central object of my work, is a discourse of memory with an ecofeminist mindset. As a floating identity, the forest is where I find the most peace and reconnect with life. Trees have graced the earth for 470 million years, and it was not until they evolved to have hard trunks about 390 million years ago that forests came into being. Humans are mere infants compared to the age of trees and forests. I observe the forest through the eyes of humans and other creatures. In my works, there is no singular focal point. Instead, every element in the forest demands justice from the viewer's eye, uniquely engaging them.
Hoa Nguyen, Installation View. Image Courtesy of University of Melbourne.
Hoa Nguyen, Bipolar Forest, 230x91.4cm, Indian ink, red inked-pen on Tyvek paper, 2024. Image courtesy of Hoa Nguyen.
Hoa Nguyen, December Sun, 200x91.4cm, Indian ink, red inked-pen on Tyvek paper, 2024. Image courtesy of Hoa Nguyen.
Hoa Nguyen, Drizzle, Indian ink and red-inked pen on Tyvek paper, 2024.
Hoa Nguyen, Dusk, 230x91.4cm, Indian ink, red inked-pen on Tyvek paper, 2024. Image courtesy of Hoa Nguyen.
Hoa Nguyen, The Unforgettable, 400x91.4cm, Indian ink, red inked-pen on Tyvek paper, 2024. Image courtesy of Hoa Nguyen.
Hoa Nguyen, The Unseen, 400x91.4cm, Indian ink, red inked-pen on Tyvek paper, 2024. Image courtesy of Hoa Nguyen.
Hoa Nguyen, Wet, Indian ink and red-inked pen on Tyvek paper, 2024. 230x91.4cm.
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
University of Melbourne